Pole-piece unit, method for assembling the same, and magnetic field generator

ABSTRACT

A magnetic field generator comprises a pair of pole-piece units. The pair of pole-piece units respectively include plate yokes. Each of the plate yokes includes a surface facing the other&#39;s and provided with a permanent magnet group and a pole piece. The pole piece includes an annular projection having a plurality of annular-projection pieces and a permanent magnet for reduction of magnetic flux leakage installed on an outside surface of each annular-projection piece. The permanent magnet for reduction of magnetic flux leakage may be disposed with a magnetizing direction thereof being slanted with respect to a main surface of the permanent magnet group.

This application is a Divisional of prior application Ser. No.10/206,353 filed on Jul. 29, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,784,776, which isa Divisional of prior application Ser. No. 09/712,906 filed on Nov. 16,2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,452,472 issued Sep. 17, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a pole-piece unit, a method forassembling the same, and a magnetic field generator. More specifically,the present invention relates to a pole-piece unit, a method forassembling the same, and a magnetic field generator used for an MRIapparatus and so on which requires an intense magnetic field greaterthan 0.3 T.

2. Description of the Related Art

In this kind of large magnetic field generator, e.g. a magnetic fieldgenerator for an MRI, in order to reduce magnetic flux leakage from polepieces and to concentrate the magnetic flux effectively onto a spacebetween the pole pieces, the applicant of the present invention proposedan arrangement, as disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model (of examinedApplication for opposition) No. 2-49683, in which a permanent magnet forrepelling the magnetic flux leakage is provided on an outside surface ofan annular projection.

When an intense magnetic field is required in this related art, a R—Fe—Bmagnet which has an intense magnetic power is used as the permanentmagnet. In this case, the permanent magnet to be bonded comes under anintense repelling force when brought near the permanent magnet which isalready bonded. Thus, it is difficult to bond the permanent magnet tothe annular projection which is formed as a single piece, resulting in apoor production efficiency.

Further, according to the above related art, the permanent magnet forrepelling the magnetic flux leakage is a magnet magnetized in adirection in parallel to a main surface of a permanent magnet used forgeneration of the magnetic field. If a uniform space is to be enlarged,the amount of magnet must be increased, causing a problem of increasedcost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide apole-piece unit, a method for assembling the same, and a magnetic fieldgenerator for improved production efficiency.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic fieldgenerator in which the uniform space can be increased without increasingthe cost.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided apole-piece unit comprising: a plate yoke; a permanent magnet groupprovided on a main surface of the plate yoke; and a pole piece providedon a main surface of the permanent magnet group; wherein the pole pieceincludes an annular projection having a plurality of annular-projectionpieces, and a permanent magnet for reduction of magnetic flux leakageprovided on an outside surface of each of the annular-projection pieces.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method for assembling a pole-piece unit, comprising: a first step offixing a permanent magnet onto an outside surface of anannular-projection piece; and a second step of fixing theannular-projection piece already mounted with the permanent magnet ontoa main surface of a base plate.

According to this invention, the permanent magnet is fixed in advanceonto the outside surface of each annular-projection piece, and apredetermined number of the annular-projection pieces each mounted withthe permanent magnet are installed onto the base plate. Therefore, thereis no need for installing the permanent magnets to the annularprojection which has been disposed on the base plate. Thus, fixation ofthe permanent magnets becomes easy, and assembling of the pole-pieceunit becomes easy, making possible to improve productivity inmanufacture of the pole-piece unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda magnetic field generator comprising a pair of the pole-piece units,and a column yoke magnetically connecting the pair of the pole-pieceunits.

According to this invention, by using the above pole-piece unit whichcan be assembled easily, the magnetic field generator is obtainedeasily, and productivity is increased.

Preferably, in the above method for assembling the pole-piece unit, theannular-projection piece has a guide hole; and the second step includesa step A of attaching a guide stake to the base plate, and a step B ofguiding the annular-projection piece already mounted with the permanentmagnet to the main surface of the base plate, by inserting the guidestake into the guide hole. In this case, the annular-projection piececan be guided to a desired place on the base plate, and therefore,positioning of the annular-projection piece becomes easy and theassembling of the pole-piece unit becomes easy.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for assembling a pole-piece unit including anannular-projection piece having a flat outside surface, wherein apermanent magnet is slid on the outside surface for fixation of thepermanent magnet to a desired position on the annular-projection piece.

According to this invention, since the outside surface of theannular-projection piece is a flat surface, the permanent magnet can beslid linearly and easily on the outside surface. Therefore, thepermanent magnet can be easily transported and fixed to a desiredposition on the outside surface of the annular-projection piece. Thus,the assembling of the pole-piece unit becomes easy, and productivity inthe manufacture of the pole-piece unit is improved.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a magnetic field generator comprising: a plate yoke; apermanent magnet group provided on a main surface of the plate yoke; anda pole piece provided on a main surface of the permanent magnet group;wherein the pole piece includes an annular projection and a permanentmagnet for reduction of magnetic flux leakage provided on an outsidesurface of the annular projection, and the permanent magnet forreduction of magnetic flux leakage is disposed, with a magnetizingdirection thereof being slanted with respect to the main surface of thepermanent magnet group.

According to this invention, by disposing the permanent magnet forreduction of magnetic flux leakage, with the magnetizing directionslanted with respect to the main surface of the permanent magnet group,greater amount of magnetic flux can be introduced into an imaging space,and the uniform space can be enlarged. Therefore, the uniform space ofmagnetic field strength can be enlarged without increasing the amount ofpermanent magnet to be used, and without increasing cost.

Preferably, the permanent magnet for reduction of magnetic flux leakageis generally rectangular parallelepiped, and the magnetizing directionmakes an acute angle with respect to a main surface of the permanentmagnet. In this case, by only disposing the permanent magnet forreduction of magnetic flux leakage directly onto the main surface of thepermanent magnet group, disposition of the permanent magnet forreduction of magnetic flux leakage having a desired magnetizing anglecan be carried out easily.

Further, preferably, the permanent magnet for reduction of magnetic fluxleakage is generally rectangular parallelepiped, and is slanted withrespect to the main surface of the permanent magnet group. In this case,a permanent magnet magnetized in any direction can be used as thepermanent magnet for reduction of magnetic flux leakage.

Further, preferably, a dimension of the pole piece is determined inaccordance with a magnetizing angle of the permanent magnet forreduction of magnetic flux leakage. By adjusting the size of the polepiece in accordance with a magnetizing angle of the permanent magnet forreduction of magnetic flux leakage, a center magnetic field strength canbe increased without increasing the amount of permanent magnet to beused and without increasing cost. Especially, it is more preferable ifthe magnetizing angle of the permanent magnet for reduction of magneticflux leakage is greater than 0 degree and smaller than 60 degrees.

It should be noted here that in this specification, the term“magnetizing angle” means an angle made by a main surface of thepermanent magnet group and a direction in which the permanent magnet forreduction of magnetic flux leakage is magnetized. The term “uniformspace” means a magnetic-field space in which the magnetic fielduniformity is within 100 ppm. The term “center magnetic field strength”means a magnetic field strength at a center portion of the uniformspace.

The above objects, other objects, characteristics, aspects andadvantages of the present invention will become clearer from thefollowing description of embodiments to be presented with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration showing a primary portion of a pole-pieceunit;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a pole piece;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a permanent magnet;

FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing an annular-projection piecemounted with the permanent magnet,

FIG. 5B is a plan view thereof;

FIG. 6 is an illustration showing a step of installing the permanentmagnet to the annular-projection piece;

FIG. 7A is an illustration showing a step of installing anannular-projection piece on a base plate, FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C areillustrations showing an order of installing the annular-projectionpieces;

FIG. 8 is an illustration showing a method for installing the pole pieceon a permanent magnet group;

FIG. 9 is an illustration showing an outline of another embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 10 is an illustration showing an example of a pressing apparatus.

FIG. 11A is a graph showing relationships of a magnetizing angle with acenter magnetic field strength and with a diameter of a uniform space,FIG. 11B is a graph showing a relationship between the magnetizing angleand the center magnetic field strength in a case where the diameter ofthe uniform space is kept constant;

FIG. 12 is a table showing an example of comparison in terms of a totalweight of magnets when the center magnetic field strength and thedistance between the pole pieces are kept constant; and

FIG. 13 is an illustration showing an outline of still anotherembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Now, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a magnetic field generator 10 as a firstembodiment of the present invention, to be used for an MRI, is an opentype magnetic field generator comprising a pair of pole-piece units 11a, 11 b facing each other with a space in between. The pole-piece units11 a, 11 b respectively include plate yokes 12 a, 12 b. The plate yoke12 a includes a generally disc-shaped main body 14 a and two connectingportions 16 a, 18 a extending from the main body 14 a. Likewise, Theplate yoke 12 b includes a generally disc-shaped main body 14 b and twoconnecting portions 16 b, 18 b extending from the main body 14 b.

The main body 14 a of the plate yoke 12 a and the main body 14 b of theplate yoke 12 b have respective surfaces faced with each other andprovided with permanent magnet groups 20 a and 20 b. The permanentmagnet groups 20 a, 20 b have respective surfaces faced with each otherand provided with pole pieces 22 a and 22 b respectively fastenedthereto.

As shown in FIG. 2, the permanent magnet group 20 b includes a pluralityof generally rectangular parallelepiped unit-piece magnets 24 each madeof a R—Fe—B magnet for example. The R—Fe—B magnet (wherein R representsrare-earth elements including yttrium Y) is disclosed in the U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,770,723 or 4,792,368. The same applies to the permanent magnetgroup 20 a.

The pole piece 22 b includes a base plate 26 made of disc-shaped ironfor example, disposed on the permanent magnet group 20 b. The base plate26 has an upper surface provided with a silicon steel plate 28 forpreventing generation of eddy current. The silicon steel plate 28 isfixed with an adhesive onto the base plate 26.

The base plate 26 has a circumferential portion formed with an annularprojection 32, made of iron for example, for increasing magnetic fieldstrength around the circumferential portion. As shown in FIG. 3, theannular projection 32 includes a plurality (e.g. eight, according to thepresent embodiment) of annular-projection pieces 34. Each of theannular-projection pieces 34 has a concavely arced inside surface and aflat outside surface. The annular projection 32 is formed by boltingeach of the annular-projection pieces 34 with screws 36 to the baseplate 26 of a circumferential portion of the silicon steel plate 28. Inother words, the annular projection 32 is made of the radially dividedpieces. The annular projection 32, or more specifically each of theannular projection pieces 34, is formed with two guide holes 38 each asa vertical through hole for assembling. Each of the guide holes 38 has athreaded inner surface to be engaged by a screw 92 to be describedlater.

The outside surface of each annular-projection piece 34 is mounted witha permanent magnet 40 for reduction of magnetic flux leakage. Thepermanent magnet 40 induces magnetic flux to concentrate between thepole pieces 22 a, 22 b, making possible to reduce the magnetic fluxleakage. As shown in FIG. 4, the permanent magnet 40 includes aplurality of generally rectangular parallelepiped unit-piece magnets 42each made of a R—Fe—B magnet for example. According to the presentembodiment, a total of sixteen (=2×2×4) unit-piece magnets 42 arestacked into a generally rectangular parallelepiped permanent magnet 40.It should be noted here that through holes 44 are formed by cutting offa corner portion of each unit-piece magnet 42.

As will be understood clearly from FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, a rectangularretainer plate 46, made of a nonmagnetic material such as SUS304 andaluminum, is disposed on an outside surface of each permanent magnet 40mounted to the outside surface of the annular-projection piece 34. Thepermanent magnet 40 and the retainer plate 46 are fixed to theannular-projection piece 34 by fixing screws 48 inserted through thethrough holes 44. Further, as will be understood from FIG. 2 and FIG.5A, in order to reduce the magnetic flux leakage from a bottom portionof the permanent magnet 40, it is preferable that a lower portion of thepermanent magnet 40 is extended to make the bottom of the permanentmagnet 40 contact the permanent magnet group 20 b. The same applies tothe pole piece 22 a.

Returning to FIG. 1, a movable yoke 50 for fine adjustment of themagnetic field is disposed at a center portion of the plate yoke 12 a.The movable yoke 50 is provided with three bolts 52 for adjustingvertical position thereof, and three stoppers 54 for regulating theposition thereof. The same arrangement applies to the plate yoke 12 b.The connecting portions 16 a, 18 a of the plate yoke 12 a arerespectively provided with threaded holes 56 to which hoisting hooks areto be attached.

The plate yokes 12 a, 12 b as described above are magnetically connectedby two cylindrical column yokes 58. The column yokes 58 are respectivelydisposed between connecting portions 16 a, 16 b and between theconnecting portions 18 a, 18 b, and fixed to the respective connectingportions 16 a, 18 a of the plate yoke 12 a by fixing bolts 60. Further,the plate yoke 12 b has a lower surface provided with three leg portions62, respectively at a front portion and locations corresponding to thetwo column yokes 58.

Next, steps of assembling the permanent magnet 40 and retainer plate 46to the annular-projection piece 34 in the magnetic field generator 10will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

First, the annular-projection piece 34 is placed, with the outsidesurface thereof facing upward, and fixed by fixing screws 66 on aworking table 64. The working table 64 is provided with a positioningjig 68, which is a plate-like piece of nonmagnetic material standing tocontact an end of the outside surface of the annular-projection piece34, i.e. the surface to which the permanent magnet is fixed. Thepositioning jig 68 is fixed to the working table 64 by screws (notillustrated) for example. On the other hand, at the other end of theoutside surface of the annular-projection piece 34, a sliding table 70is placed so that the outside surface of the annular-projection piece 34and an upper surface of the sliding table 70 become generally flush witheach other, providing a continuous plane.

With the above preparation, a first magnet block 72 is disposed on thesliding table 70. The magnet block 72 is a component formed by stackingand bonding eight (=2×2×2) of the unit-piece magnet 42 shown in FIG. 4.The magnet block 72 is held firmly by a holding portion 74 and is pushedby an arm 76 out of the sliding table 70 onto the outside surface of theannular-projection piece 34, sliding on the annular-projection piece 34to contact the positioning jig 68.

During the above operation, since the annular-projection piece 34 ismade of soft iron, the magnet block 72 is strongly attracted to theannular-projection piece 34. While being attracted strongly, the firstmagnet block 72 is pushed up by a screw 78 threaded from beneath theworking table 64, and an adhesive is applied between the magnet block 72and the annular-projection piece 34. Thereafter, the screw 78 isunthreaded to allow the magnet block 72 to bond to theannular-projection piece 34. Then, likewise, a second magnet block 72 isheld firmly by the holding portion 74 and is pushed by the arm 76 towardthe outside surface of the annular-projection piece 34. The pushingoperation is stopped just before reaching a predetermined fixingposition, to allow application of the adhesive to the predeterminedfixing position on the annular-projection piece 34, and to an endsurface of the first magnet block 72. Thereafter, the second magnetblock 72 is pushed by the arm 76 to the predetermined fixing position tocomplete the fixing. It should be noted here that there is a repellingforce between the magnet block 72 which is already fixed and the magnetblock 72 which is to be fixed. If the magnet block 72 to be fixed isrepelled off the surface, an air cylinder (not illustrated) may beprovided above the holding portion 74 to press the magnet block 72downward. The magnet blocks 72, i.e. the permanent magnets 40 are thusfixed to the outside surface of the annular-projection piece 34. In theabove operation, since the outside surface of the annular-projectionpiece 34 is a flat surface, the magnet block 72 can be slid linearly andeasily on the outside surface. Therefore, the magnet block 72 can beeasily transported and fixed to a desired position on the outsidesurface of the annular-projection piece 34.

Thereafter, the retainer plate 46 is disposed on an upper surface of themagnet block 72 and then fastened by the fixing screws 48.

Next, steps for assembling the pole piece 22 b will be described withreference to FIG. 7A through FIG. 7C.

First, as shown in FIG. 7A, a guide stake 80 is threaded into the baseplate 26 of the pole piece 22 b. Next, the annular-projection piece 34,with the permanent magnet 40 installed thereto, is lowered on the guidestake 80, allowing the guide stake 80 into the guide hole 38 of theannular-projection piece 34, thereby placing the annular-projectionpiece 34 onto the guide plate 26. If the annular-projection piece 34cannot be easily lowered due to repelling force from theannular-projection piece 34 which is already installed, then the guidestake 80 may be formed with a male thread in advance, and a mating nut(not illustrated) to be threaded by the guide stake 80 may be disposedon the annular-projection piece 34. With this arrangement, theannular-projection piece 34 can be lowered by tightening the nut. Thelowered annular-projection piece 34 is fixed with the screws 36 onto thebase plate 26. Thereafter, the guide stake 80 is removed.

In the above described installation of the annular-projection piece 34,annular-projection pieces 34 are first installed at every otherpositions as shown in FIG. 7B, and then, as shown in FIG. 7C, the restof the annular-projection pieces 34 are installed, to fill the positionsbetween the annular-projection pieces 34 which are already installed.During the installation, the above described method of installation bytightening the nut is desirably used because the repelling force is verystrong.

The pole piece 22 b assembled according to the above described method,is then fixed onto the permanent magnet group 20 b by using a lift 82,for example, as shown in FIG. 8. The lift 82 includes a lifting table 84made of a nonmagnetic material such as a stainless steel (SUS304). Thelifting table 84 can be vertically moved by rotation of threaded drivingshafts 88 built on a base table 86. The base table 86 has an uppersurface provided with a turntable 90, on which the plate yoke 12 b andthe permanent magnet group 20 b are disposed. The pole piece 22 b issuspended by screws 92 which penetrate the lifting table 84. The screws92 are threaded into respective guide holes 38 of the pole piece 22 b.By lowering the lifting table 84, the pole piece 22 b is disposed on thepermanent magnet group 20 b, and then fixed onto the permanent magnetgroup 20 b by screws (not illustrated). The same arrangement applies tothe pole piece 22 a.

As has been described above, according to the magnetic field generator10, the permanent magnet 40 is fixed in advance onto the outside surfaceof each annular-projection piece 34, and a predetermined number of theannular-projection pieces 34 each mounted with the permanent magnet 40are installed onto the base plate 26. Therefore, there is no need forinstalling the permanent magnets 40 to the annular projection 32 whichhas been disposed on the base plate 26. Specifically, the fixation ofthe permanent magnet 40 becomes easy by dividing the annular projection32. As a result, assembly of the pole-piece units 11 a, 11 b, andfurther of the magnetic field generator 10 become easy, leading toimproved production efficiency even if there is a need for an intensemagnetic field and therefore a R—Fe—B magnet is used as the unit-piecemagnet.

Further, by inserting the guide stake 80 attached on the base plate 26into the guide hole 38 of the annular-projection piece 34, theannular-projection piece 34 can be guided to a predetermined place onthe base plate 26. Therefore, positioning of the annular-projectionpiece 34 becomes easy.

The magnetic field generator 10 as described above and a prior artmagnetic field generator were compared in an experiment in which eachwas built to generate a magnetic field of 0.4 T in a space between theirrespective pole pieces. Results show that the prior art, which did notuse the permanent magnets 40 for reduction of magnetic flux leakage,needed a greater amount of permanent magnet, i.e. 4.9 tons, due togreater magnetic flux leakage. On the other hand, the magnetic fieldgenerator 10, which could reduce the magnetic flux leakage by using thepermanent magnets 40, needed 3.9 tons of permanent magnet. Therefore,according to the magnetic field generator 10, the amount of permanentmagnet to be used can be reduced, and cost can be reduced.

Next, referring to FIG. 9, a magnetic field generator 100 as anotherembodiment of the present invention, to be used for an MRI, comprises apair of pole-piece units 102 a, 102 b facing each other with a space inbetween. The pole-piece unit 102 a, 102 b respectively include plateyokes 104 a, 104 b.

The plate yokes 104 a, 104 b have respective surfaces facing each otherand provided with permanent magnet groups 106 a, 106 b. The permanentmagnet groups 106 a, 106 b have respective surfaces facing each otherand provided with pole pieces 108 a, 108 b respectively fastenedthereto.

Each of the permanent magnet groups 106 a, 106 b is made by stacking aplurality of unit-piece magnets 110 in three layers. Each of theunit-piece magnets 110 is made of a cubic R—Fe—B magnet having a side of50 mm for example.

The pole piece 108 a includes a base plate 112 made of disc-shaped ironfor example, disposed on a main surface of the permanent magnet group106 a. The base plate 112 has a main surface provided with a siliconsteel plate 114 for preventing generation of eddy current. The siliconsteel plate 114 is fixed with an adhesive onto the base plate 112.

The base plate 112 has a circumferential portion formed with an annularprojection 116, made of iron for example, for increasing magnetic fieldstrength around the circumferential portion. The annular projection 116is formed essentially in the same way as in the annular projection 32,and includes a plurality of annular-projection pieces 34 as shown inFIG. 3 for example.

The outside surface of the annular projection 116, i.e. the outsidesurface of each annular-projection piece 34, is mounted with a permanentmagnet 118 for reduction of magnetic flux leakage. The permanent magnet118 induces magnetic flux to concentrate between the pole pieces 108 a,108 b, and reduce the magnetic flux leakage. The permanent magnet 118 isformed into a generally rectangular parallelepiped block by stacking aplurality of generally rectangular parallelepiped unit-piece magnetseach made of a R—Fe—B magnet for example. Here, attention should be madeto a magnetizing direction A1 of the permanent magnet 118. As shown inFIG. 9, the permanent magnet 118 is formed so that the magnetizingdirection A1 makes an acute angle with respect to the main surface 120of the permanent magnet 118. Therefore, each of the unit-piece magnetconstituting the permanent magnet 118 is formed likewise so that themagnetizing direction thereof makes an acute angle with respect to amain surface of the unit-piece magnet. By disposing the permanent magnet118 so as to contact a main surface of the permanent magnet group 106 a,an outside surface of the base plate 112 and the outside surface of theannular projection 116, the magnetizing direction A1 of the permanentmagnet 118 can be slanted with respect to the main surface of thepermanent magnet group 106 a. On an outside surface of the permanentmagnet 118, the above described retainer plate 46 for example isdisposed. In this case, the permanent magnet 118 and the retainer plate46 are fixed to the annular-projection piece 34, i.e. to the annularprojection 116, by using a fixing screw for example. The same applies tothe pole piece 108 b.

The plate yokes 104 a, 104 b are magnetically connected by twocylindrical column yokes 58, in the same manner as in the magnetic fieldgenerator 10 shown in FIG. 1. The plate yokes 104 a, 104 b and thecolumn yokes 58 are mutually connected and fixed together by fixingbolts for example.

The unit-piece magnets used in the permanent magnet 118 are manufacturedby using a pressing apparatus 200 as shown in FIG. 10 for example.

The pressing apparatus 200 comprises a pair of opposed yokes 202 (onlyone yoke is shown in FIG. 10.) The yokes 202 are surrounded by coils 204respectively. By applying electric current to the coil 204, a magneticfield is generated.

A die 206 made of a nonmagnetic or weak-magnetic material is providedbetween the pair of yokes 202. The die 206 is formed with a plurality ofvertical through holes 208. The through holes 208 each having arectangular section are formed to slant at a magnetizing angle θ withrespect to a magnetic orienting direction B provided by the yokes 202.

Between the pair of yokes 202, a die set 210 is provided, sandwichingthe die 206. Further, a base plate 212 is disposed to sandwich the die206 and the die set 210 perpendicularly with respect to the magneticorienting direction B. The die 206, the die set 210 and the base plate212 have respective upper surfaces flush among each other. Further, onthe base plate 212, a powder feeding box 214 containing a powder isdisposed movably toward and from the die 206.

By using the pressing apparatus 200 as described above, the powder ismagnetically oriented in the through holes 208 and pressed byunillustrated pairs of prismatic upper and lower punches into compacts.The compacts are then sintered to become the unit-piece magnets eachhaving a desired magnetizing angle θ. The method of making the magnet isdisclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,723.

Next, description will cover experiments conducted by using the magneticfield generator 100. The experiments were made under the followingconditions: a thickness T1 of the permanent magnet group 106 a, 106 bwas 150 mm; a total thickness T2 of the base plate 112 and the siliconsteel plate 114 was 65 mm; a height H1 of the annular projection 116 was64 mm, a thickness T3 thereof was 65 mm; a height H2 of the permanentmagnet 118 was 80 mm, a thickness T4 thereof was 120 mm; an innerdiameter D1 of the annular projection 116 was 855 mm, an outer diameterD2 thereof was 983 mm; and a distance d between pole pieces 108 a and108 b was 405 mm. With this arrangement, the uniform space having ashape of vertically flattened sphere is formed between the pole pieces108 a, 108 b.

First, in the magnetic field generator 100, the magnetizing angle θ ofthe permanent magnet 118 was varied, and a horizontal diameter D3 of theuniform space and a center magnetic field strength thereof weremeasured.

From FIG. 11A, it is understood that the uniform space enlarges when themagnetizing angle θ of the permanent magnet 118 is increased. Thus, bydisposing the permanent magnets 118 with the magnetizing angle θ slantedwith respect to the main surfaces of the permanent magnet groups 106 a,106 b, greater amount of magnetic flux can be introduced into an imagingspace, and the uniform space can be increased. Therefore, the uniformspace can be increased without increasing the amount of permanent magnet118 to be used and without increasing cost. Further, by adjusting themagnetizing angle θ, a desired uniform space and center magnetic fieldstrength can be obtained.

Next, in the magnetic field generator 100, the diameter of the polepieces 108 a, 108 b and the thickness of the annular projection 116 werevaried in accordance with the variation in the magnetizing angle θ ofthe permanent magnet 118 so as to keep constant the horizontal diameterD3 of the uniform space, and the center magnetic field strength wasmeasured. In this experiment, the permanent magnet groups 106 a, 106 bwere not varied.

As described above, the uniform space enlarges when the magnetizingangle θ is increased. Therefore, in order to make constant the diameterD3 of the uniform space, the size of the pole pieces 108 a, 108 b shouldbe decreased in accordance with the increase in the magnetizing angle θof the permanent magnet 118. By using this method, the magnetic fieldstrength in the space can be increased. Thus, the permanent magnet 118can be used at an increased efficiency, and in a case when generating amagnetic field of the same strength, the amount of magnet to be used canbe decreased to the extent the magnetic field strength is increased.Therefore, it becomes possible to reduce cost and the weight of magneticfield generator 100.

From FIG. 11B, it is learned that if the magnetizing angle θ is within arange of 0 degree through 60 degrees, the center magnetic field strengthcan be made not smaller than when the magnetizing angle θ is 0 degree.Especially, if the magnetizing angle θ is between 10 degrees through 50degrees, the center magnetic field strength can be not smaller than 0.42T, becoming possible to obtain a stronger magnetic field. Morepreferably, the magnetizing angle θ is between 15 degrees through 45degrees.

Further, from results of another experiment shown in FIG. 12, if thecenter magnetic field strength and the distance d between the polepieces 108 a, 108 b are kept constant, with the magnetizing angle θbeing set at 30 degrees, it becomes possible to reduce the total weightof the magnet to 2313 kg, which is lighter by 100 kg than when themagnetizing angle θ is 0 degree; and by 610 kg than when the permanentmagnets 118 are not provided. In this experiment, the diameter D3 of theuniform space was 400 mm. Therefore, weights of the plate yokes 104 aand 104 b can be reduced.

The magnets used as the permanent magnets 118 have the magnetizingdirection A1 already slanted. Therefore, by only disposing the permanentmagnets 118 directly on the main surfaces of the permanent magnet groups106 a, 106 b, disposition of the permanent magnets 118 for reduction ofmagnetic flux leakage having a desired magnetizing angle θ can becarried out easily.

Further, a magnetic field generator 100 a as shown in FIG. 13 may beused.

According to the magnetic field generator 100 a, a permanent magnet 124is used as the permanent magnet for reduction of magnetic flux leakageincluded in the pole pieces 122 a, 122 b. The permanent magnet 124 has amagnetizing direction A2 in parallel or vertical to each surface of thepermanent magnet 124. In this case, members 126 and 128 each having atrapezoidal section are used in order to dispose the permanent magnet124 so that the magnetizing direction A2 of the permanent magnet 124 isslanted with respect to the corresponding main surface of the permanentmagnet groups 106 a, 106 b. Other arrangements are essentially the sameas in the magnetic field generator 100 shown in FIG. 9, and thereforewill not be repeated here.

According to the magnetic field generator 100 a, the permanent magnets124 themselves are slanted at the desired angle with respect to the mainsurfaces of the respective permanent magnet groups 106 a, 106 b.Therefore, a permanent magnet magnetized in any direction can be used asthe permanent magnet for reduction of magnetic flux leakage.Particularly, a commonly available permanent magnet magnetized in adirection in parallel or vertical to each surface thereof can be used,making possible to easily obtain the permanent magnets for reduction ofmagnetic flux leakage. Further, the same effect as in the magnetic fieldgenerator 100 can be obtained in the magnetic field generator 100 a.

It should be noted here that alternatively, the outside surface of theannular projection 116 may be slanted, and the permanent magnets 118 and124 for reduction of magnetic flux leakage may be installed to theslanted outside surface. In this case again, the same effect as in themagnetic field generator 100 can be obtained.

Further, the column yoke in the present invention includes a plate-likecolumn yoke such as disclosed in the U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/386,146.

The present invention can also be applied to a magnetic field generatorcomprising a single column yoke.

The present invention being thus far described and illustrated indetail, it is obvious that these description and drawings only representan example of the present invention, and should not be interpreted aslimiting the invention. The spirit and scope of the present invention isonly limited by words used in the accompanied claims.

1. A magnetic field generator comprising a pair of pole-piece units anda column yoke magnetically connecting the pair of pole-piece units,wherein each of the pole-piece units includes a plate yoke, a permanentmagnet group provided on a main surface of the plate yoke, and a polepiece provided on a main surface of the permanent magnet group, the polepiece including an annular projection, and a permanent magnet forreduction of magnetic flux leakage provided on a flat outside surface ofthe annular projection.
 2. The generator according to claim 1, whereinthe annular projection has a plurality of annular-projection pieces. 3.A magnetic field generator comprising a pair of pole-piece units and acolumn yoke magnetically connecting the pair of pole-piece units,wherein each of the pole-piece units includes a plate yoke, a permanentmagnet group provided on a main surface of the plate yoke, and a polepiece provided on a main surface of the permanent magnet group, the polepiece including an annular projection, a permanent magnet for reductionof magnetic flux leakage provided on an outside surface of the annularprojection, and a retainer for fixing the permanent magnet to theannular projections, wherein the annular projection has a plurality ofannular-projection pieces.
 4. The generator according to claim 3,wherein the retainer includes a retainer plate and a screw.
 5. An opentype magnetic field generator comprising a pair of pole-piece units anda column yoke magnetically connecting the pair of pole-piece units,wherein each of the pole-piece units includes a plate yoke, a permanentmagnet group provided on a main surface of the plate yoke, and a polepiece provided on a main surface of the permanent magnet group, the polepiece including an annular projection, and a permanent magnet forreduction of magnetic flux leakage provided on an outside surface of theannular projection, wherein the annular projection has a plurality ofannular-projection pieces.
 6. The generator according to one of claims 1to 5, wherein the permanent magnet for reduction of magnetic fluxleakage is parallelepiped.
 7. The generator according to one of claims 1to 5, wherein the permanent magnet for reduction of magnetic fluxleakage is a sintered magnet.
 8. A Pole-piece unit comprising: a plateyoke; a permanent magnet group provided on a main surface of the plateyoke; and a pole piece provided on a main surface of the permanentmagnet group; wherein the pole piece includes an annular projectionhaving a plurality of annular-projection pieces, and a permanent magnetfor reduction of magnetic flux leakage provided on an outside surface ofeach of the annular-projection pieces.
 9. A method for assembling apole-piece unit including an annular-projection piece having a flatoutside surface, wherein a permanent magnet is slid on the outsidesurface for fixation of the permanent magnet to a desired position onthe annular-projection piece.